Curacao govt. collapses; new elections coming in April

The government of Curacao collapsed on Sunday, Prime Minister on the island Hensley Koeiman confirmed. The government was in office for just over seven weeks, AD reports.

On Sunday two members of political party Pueblo Soberano withdrew their support for Koeiman's government, with which the coalition lost its majority. The Prime Minister submitted the resignation of his government to the governor. According to Koeiman, there will be new elections on April 28th. The previous elections on Curacao were held on October 5th.

Former Prime Minister Gerrit Schotte now has to form a new government. According to the newspaper, he already formed an alliance which has a majority in the Curacao parliament, 11 of the 21 seats. The governor will decide whether Schotte can govern or whether there will be new elections.

There is an ongoing lawsuit against Schotte in which he is accused of official corruption, forgery, bribery and money laundering. Last year he was convicted and sentenced to three years in prison and disqualification from standing for election. He appealed. A new hearing date hasn't been set yet.